[f. STUTTER v.] An act or a habit of stuttering.
1854. Surtees, Handley Cr., iii. (1901), I. 20. After a long string of stutters, he [the would-be orator] slunk back into the crowd amid the laughter and applause of the company.
1883. S. C. Hall, Retrospect, I. 119. He had an awkward impediment of speech, not quite a stutter.
1886. Ruskin, Præterita, I. 253. Attempting even some stutter of apology which made matters worse.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VII. 451. Suddenly the stumbling-block is removed,… and the subsequent words tumble out rapidly … until checked by a fresh stutter.
attrib. 1878. trans. von Ziemssen’s Cycl. Med., XIV. 836. Schulthess compared the stutter-spasm to the convulsive movements of photophobia and hydrophobia.
